Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, Massachusetts 01420, USA.
Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Denmark.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2019 Apr;145(4):2247. doi: 10.1121/1.5097587.
The sound of recorded music has changed over time. These changes can be captured by different audio features. Over the past decades, popular songs have shown clear increases in RMS energy and loudness, but far less attention has addressed whether this upward trend is more prevalent in specific frequency bands, such as the bass. Bass frequencies are especially important for movement induction, such as foot tapping or dancing, and might offer competitive advantages of capturing attention and increasing engagement. Here, the authors examined the evolution of audio features, such as root-mean-square (RMS) energy, loudness, and spectral fluctuations (changes in the audio signal's frequency content) in ten frequency bands from songs on the Billboard Hot 100 charts from 1955 to 2016. Over time, RMS energy and loudness increased while dynamic range decreased. The largest increases were found in the bass range: Spectral flux increased most strongly in the lowest frequency bands (0-100 Hz), and when controlling for overall RMS, only the lowest frequency bands showed an increase over time. The upward trend of bass could reflect changes in technology and style; but based on links between bass and movement, it is likely a widespread technique to increase engagement and contribute to chart success.
录制音乐的声音随着时间的推移而发生了变化。这些变化可以通过不同的音频特征来捕捉。在过去的几十年里，流行歌曲的 RMS 能量和响度明显增加，但很少有人关注这种上升趋势是否更普遍存在于特定的频带，如低音。低音频率对于运动感应特别重要，例如踏脚或跳舞，并且可能提供吸引注意力和增加参与度的竞争优势。在这里，作者研究了从 1955 年到 2016 年公告牌百强单曲榜上的歌曲中十个频段的音频特征（如均方根（RMS）能量、响度和频谱波动（音频信号频率内容的变化））的演变。随着时间的推移，RMS 能量和响度增加，而动态范围减小。最大的增加出现在低音范围：频谱通量在最低频段（0-100Hz）增加最强烈，并且当控制总体 RMS 时，只有最低频段随时间显示出增加。低音的上升趋势可能反映了技术和风格的变化；但基于低音与运动之间的联系，它很可能是一种广泛使用的技术，用于提高参与度并有助于图表成功。
